Article:Sato tribute to
mentor Dr. Theodore Puck, 2006. In Vitro Cell. Devel. Biol.-Animal
42:235-241. (click
on logo for full text) �
2006, Society for In Vitro Biology.
This material has been published in In Vitro Cell. Devel. Biol. Animal, the only
accredited archive of the content that has been certified and accepted after peer
review. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by the Society for In Vitro
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A summary of influences on Dr.
Sato's early life that led to a career as an academic research, teacher and professor of
biology; the forces that caused him to develop the Manzanar Project, and his most pressing
global concerns to date.

(click on logo for full text) �
2003, Society for In Vitro Biology. This material
has been published in In Vitro Cell. Devel. Biol. Animal, the only accredited archive of
the content that has been certified and accepted after peer review. Copyright and
all rights therein are retained by the Society for In Vitro Biology. This material
may not be copied or reposted without explicit permission of the copyright owner.

Report
October 1998: Manzanar Project From Dr. Gordon Sato

I have had many recent conversations with
individuals about aspects of the Manzanar project. For the sake of efficiency, I've
decided to write a general statement about the objectives and methods of the project. This
helps to clarify our own thinking as well as to explore how the conceptual and practical
methodology of the project could be useful for the division of research and environment.
The Manzanar project begins with identifying the problems and proceeds to seek solutions.
The most urgent problem facing the nation is poverty. The recent conflict with Ethiopia
only emphasizes that long term national security requires economic self-sufficiency.

How poor is Eritrea? Its per capita gross
domestic product is about 150 USD per year or about 1% that of developed nations. The
longevity of Eritrean men is 48 years compared to 75 years for advanced nations. Housing,
nutrition, childhood and childbirth deaths are at unacceptable levels. What is the
magnitude of the solutions required? It is the opinion of the Manzanar project that a
feasible goal is to increase the per capita GDP tenfold to 1500 USD per year. If achieved,
Eritrea would still be a poor nation, but free of the grinding poverty that makes
progressive development difficult.

How could this be achieved? Eritrea has
few known resources. It may have rich deposits of oil or precious metals, but it would be
unwise to base the countries future on these uncertain prospects. Certainly, agriculture,
light industry, tourism etc. will all gradually improve with time, but none of these seems
likely to provide the quantum leap in production needed to jump-start this economy.

How about the red sea and its possible
bonanza of wealth from fish? A sober assessment of the situation reveals that this
potential has been exaggerated in the past. The red sea lacks inflowing rivers and
upwelling currents. For this reason its low productivity is based mainly on corals and
mangroves. Last years landings were about 700 tons, which would contribute about 0.10 USD
to the per capita GDP. Research vessels by sweeping defined areas for sampling to assess
the total amount of fish in Eritrean waters, come to the conclusion that the maximum
sustainable catch of commercially valuable fish is about 10 to 20 thousand tons per year.
This is consistent with historical landing records of neighboring countries. If the upper
figure is achieved, this would contribute about 3.00 USD to the per capita GDP. Clearly,
we in the research and environment department must rethink our mission and exert ourselves
to devise new approaches to producing wealth through exploitation of the sea.

The basic assumption of the Manzanar
project is that the vast deserts, readily available seawater, and abundant sunshine can be
utilized to grow plants that can be irrigated with seawater to create wealth. Many plants
can be grown watered with sea water. A moments reflection would confirm this fact. In the
shallow waters of mangrove swamps one can observe mats of microscopic algae which serve as
food for many organisms and fix atmospheric nitrogen for the trees. Mangroves obviously
grow in seawater. Along the shore one can observe grasses and shrubs which must be salt
tolerant. The international literature describes many useful plants that can be grown with
seawater irrigation.

ALGAE: During the war, we dug shallow
ponds near the shore, fertilized them to grow algae, and inoculated the ponds with algae
eating mullet fingerlings, In this way we could grow 15 tons of mullet per hectare per
year. On Halib Island, Samuel, Tesforn, and I fertilized sea water ponds to grow algae
which fed brine shrimp. We produced up to 15 tons per hectare per year. With proper
equipment we should be able to substantially increase production. Brine shrimp are an
excellent foodstock for any aquaculture or agriculture project.

GRASSES: We have brought salt grass, Distichlis
spicata, from America. This grass can be grown with seawater irrigation, and fed to
goats, cattle, and camels. Twenty thousand hectares of this grass are grown in Mexico and
fed to cattle. We have grown this grass in seawater on a small scale in Massawa, and will
scale up the operation in Hergigo. This raises the prospect of converting vast tracts of
desert into productive pasture.

SHRUBS: We have seeds of the desert salt
bush, Atriplex, and the succulent shrub, Salicornia. Both plants can be
grown with seawater irrigation. Atriplex produces a high protein fodder, and the
seeds of salicomia can be used for cooking oil. The stems of salicornia can be used
to produce high quality fiber board.

MANGROVES: The mangrove project provides
many lessons of use to the division of research and environment, so I will describe the
work in some detail. The first idea to keep in mind is that all plants can be grown in an
inert medium such as sand, if the plants are watered with a solution that contains all the
required mineral nutrients, is at an appropriate pH, and has a salinity that is not too
high. The mineral requirements of plants have been known for over fifty years. The first
question we asked was what is the pH tolerance of mangroves. By planting trees at
different pHs, we discovered that the trees survived well at pHs from 6.0 to 9.0, but
probably grew faster at the lower pHs. Since seawater has a pH of about 8.5, we need not
adjust the pH of seawater used for irrigation. The second question we asked, is what
minerals need to be added to sea water to nourish plants? The experiment was
simple. A jar of seawater was allowed to stand in the sun. Algae grew very slowly. When
ammonium phosphate was added, algae still grew slowly. When a complex algae medium was
added to sea water, algae grew rapidly. Comparing the composition of the algae medium to
the composition of seawater, it was found that the only elements missing were nitrogen,
phosphorus, and iron. When ammonium phosphate and iron were added to seawater, algae grew
rapidly. We now know that any plant that can grow in seawater needs only nitrogen,
phosphorus, and iron added to the seawater. The next question we asked was why were there
no mangroves in the inter-tidal zone near the research and environment compounds. This was
puzzling because seeds should drift over from green island, and the many toilets should
provide adequate nutrition. When we planted seeds, we observed small waves washing them
away. When we planted small plants, they thrived. We now know that many areas around
Massawa can be planted with mangroves to improve the local environment, and increase the
fishes for local fishermen.

By planting mangroves above sea level in
the research compound, we found that the trees do well because they have good drainage,
either because the soil is sandy or because we planted them in a hole filled with sand. If
drainage is poor, the trees die. We know that providing drainage for mangroves planted
away from the sea will be our major concern. Another question we are asking is why is 85%
of the Eritrean coast devoid of mangroves. If one observes mangroves in nature they grow
in Mersas where the seasonal rains are channeled to the sea. We theorize that the flood
waters bring organic material which is consumed by nitrogen fixing bacteria which fix
nitrogen to nourish the trees. After the trees are established, they drop leaves, which
serve as food for nitrogen fixing bacteria, so that the forest can perpetuate itself.
Mangrove forests are in mud filled with oxidizing organic material. If this is true, then
inter-tidal zones without mangrove trees can be planted with mangroves, if we plant small
trees which cannot be washed away by wave action, and if we provide a slow release
fertilizer. We plan to bury next to each tree a perforated plastic bag containing ammonium
phosphate and iron oxide.

Let us now consider the economics of
planting mangroves. We can plant 1000 trees per hectare. The inter-tidal zone of Eritrea
is about 1000 kilometers long and 100 meters wide. We could plant 10 million trees in the
inter-tidal zone. Each tree would be worth about 100 USD in twenty years but if we go for
value added products such as lumber, each tree would produce about 400 USD. The
inter-tidal zone could produce 200 million USD per year or about 70 USD to the per capita
GDP of 150 USD. If a one-kilometer wide inland strip is planted with mangroves than the
GDP could be raised IOOO USD. The grasses, shrubs, brine shrimp could then bring the GDP
to the goal of a two-fold increase over todays GDP.

The main objective of the Manzanar project
is to train people, who have the confidence to think independently, and try new things to
build their country. It is important that they have a hands-on working knowledge of the
work. Cleanliness will also be emphasized in the Manzanar project. Cleanliness means that
people pay attention to the details of work and do it well. We will also try to encourage
the municipality of Massawa to beautify the area with plantings of trees and shrubs that
can grow with seawater. Toilets should be flushed with sea water. Massawa should use its
fresh water supply in a careful and thoughtful way.